1. Field
The present application relates to attachment systems for attaching shoes to a wide variety of sports equipment.
Some items of sports equipment like indoor rowing machines, cycling machines and recreational sports rowing boats use straps for removably attaching sports shoes during use. Competition rowing boats generally have permanently attached shoes. A firm attachment offers better control over the piece of equipment, but safety issues can arise as a result. Examples for such devices are described in US 2009/0241827 A1 showing a rowing boat footrest assembly; or in US 2005/0188567 A1, disclosing a fastening device for bicycle pedals.
Although the attachment system will be discussed herein for use with rowing boats, to aid the reader, it is understood that the attachment system can be used with other types of recreational and/or sporting equipment and is therefore not limited to the specific uses discussed herein. I will describe that application in detail. In most cases this description will cover indoor rowing machines, which require a similar bodily movement for their operation.
2. Related Art
Others have attempted to invent ways for removably attaching shoes to sports equipment, but their inventions had shortcomings due to one or more of the following reasons:
They were cumbersome.
They introduced new and undesirable directional movement of the feet.
They were not easy to retrofit to existing sporting equipment.
They were designed for use with conventional sports shoes.
The safety features portrayed were unconvincing.
None of them has gained acceptance in the marketplace.
Accordingly, there is a need for shoe attachment systems which do not exhibit one or more of the noted shortcomings.